Field Review of the Teknetics Liberator

More options! More settings! Loud and clear are the wants that many consumers place on the products they purchase. We want buttons to press, we want menus to cycle through. We want power seats, power windows, and a spot to warm our coffee. Often times, our bank accounts “need” something entirely different however. Any adult knows full well that wants and needs are two totally different aspects of life.

Not according to Teknetics. Their Ameritek Liberator is about to march in the room and change all of that. If you need something - it is sure to be here. If you want it - Teknetics says you can have it.

With a retail price of X, this metal detector is a bit of a head scratcher. I know “how” they packed so much into it for the price - but why? Detectors with options and performance like that are usually 2-3 times the price. Teknetics must be dead serious about this Ameritek line “reshaping the price to performance landscape”.

This Liberator is packed with so many options and features it had me looking for the automatic shovel to dig my targets. Maybe in the 2.0 release. It even has a custom paint job. The Liberator indeed.

The first thing you will notice upon unboxing your new Liberator is the face plate. The American Bald Eagle is boldly placed across the front in a profile side view. One golden-brown wing spread from left to right behind the LCD display, the unmistakable stars and stripes of the American Flag in the background. It is one word - awesome.

Once assembled the Liberator comes in at a very light 2.6lbs with the large 11 inch DD coil installed. It is very well balanced and can easily be used for hours on end without shoulder/arm fatigue. Taller people should have no issues as well. Standing exactly at 6ft - I had plenty of pole length to extend it further if necessary. It ran for approximately 25 hours on a single 9V battery before needing to be replaced. A battery life readout on the LCD is very helpful for keeping tabs on it.

The Liberator runs off the tried and proven 7.7khz “Frat Bros” process. It has an iron range of 0-19, a gold range of 20-59, and a silver range of 60-99. It also has 9 icons running along the top - Iron, Foil, 5c, Alum, Zinc, 10c, 25, 50, 1$.

Turning it on the first time will start you off in the Disc C (coin) mode. This mode has discrimination set right under the 5c icon, then a large notch eliminating Alum and Zinc up to 10c icon. This is great for people who want to simply turn it on and go coin-shooting. Pressing the “Mode” button cycles into the two other preset discrimination modes named Disc J (Jewelry) and Disc A (Artifact). Each one providing preset notch and tone breaks. The J (Jewlery) mode runs no notch and simply discs past iron. While the A (Artifact) mode runs a tone break in the iron range with very little discrimination set. All 3 of the preset modes are ground balanced at 82 and only the volume and sensitivity can be adjusted.

But it does not stop there…here is where the fun really begins.

Pressing the Mode button again brings you into three custom modes - all 3 of which CAN be ground balanced. Disc 2...Disc 3...Disc 4. Each provides the same amount of tones respectively with zero disc to start off with. Disc 2 has a low tone for iron and VCO for the rest of the 21-99 range. Disc 3 adds a high tone for the silver range. Disc 4 adds a mid tone for nickels making this mode GREAT for coin shooting with the ability to ground balance that the preset C (coin) mode does not provide.. You can adjust the notch and width ANYWHERE on the 0-99 id range. Many detectors will not allow a notch or disc past the silver range. Not so with this Liberator. You can raise the notch width to 20 and adjust it anywhere on the 0-99 ID scale. No more 95-99 iron cans at relics sites to fatigue your ears. It’s amazing.

The volume and sensitivity are both adjustable from 0-10 no matter what Mode you are in. Notch and V-Break menu settings are only available in the Disc 2/3/4 custom modes. They will disappear in the modes they are not available. It is setup very nicely so only the options you need appear in each setting.

One final press of the Mode button will place you into All-Metal mode that is VERY sensitive. The AM mode can also be accessed with a “hold down” of the “Mode” button. A GREAT feature to detect deep targets on the fly without having to switch over to AM entirely. It works so well and is so easy to use in the field - I wonder why all detectors don’t come with this feature.

Air tests will push you past the 12in mark on a US quarter in the AM Mode…..10-11 inches in any of the Disc programs. This is absolutely a performer.

Placing down 4 US quarters at roughly 3-4 inches apart the Liberator gives 4 very distinct beeps in rapid succession. The recovery speed is very good. Placing one of those same quarters with iron nails in a square formation at 2-3 inches away provided a clear tone on the quarter - and keeping the average in the silver/clad coin range on the detector.

Knowing air tests and nail test are not the favorite of some - I buried multiple targets at a local abandoned school I frequently hunt. This is VERY bad Colorado soil that will make a mockery of many detectors abilities. The Liberator achieved 6 inches on a dime....8 on a nickel and US Quarter. Expect even better results into the 8+ range if your soil is outside a major mineral belt area. Very respectable for the amazing price you are paying.

So there we have it guys - the Teknetics Liberator. Performance is there - speed is there - unmasking and separation is there. Boy oh boy are the options and features there.

Go get liberated this upcoming hunt season - and get yourself the Ameritek Liberator from Teknetics.